Governments produce nothing but impediments. From John Stossel at reason.com:
Hillary Clinton gave a speech warning that the new “sharing economy” of businesses such as the ride-hailing company Uber is “raising hard questions about workplace protections.”
Democrats hate what labor unions hate, and a taxi drivers’ union hates Uber, too. Its NYC website proclaims, “Uber has the money. But we are the PEOPLE!”
The taxi cartels, which provide inferior service and are micromanaged by government, don’t like getting competition from efficient companies like Uber.
Clinton didn’t mention Uber by name, but we don’t have to wonder which company she meant. The New York Times reports that Clinton contacted Uber and told them her speech would threaten to “crack down” on companies that don’t treat independent contractors as full employees. Apparently, Democrats think something’s wrong if people are independent contractors.
But no driver is forced to work for Uber. People volunteer. They like the flexibility. They like getting more use out of their cars. It’s win-win-win. Drivers earn money, customers save money while gaining convenience, and Uber makes money. Why does Clinton insist on interfering with that?
Clinton’s “social democrat” pal, New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, wants to crack down on Uber by limiting how many drivers they may hire. Uber cleverly responded with an app—a “de Blasio option”—that shows people how much longer they’d have to wait if de Blasio gets his way.
Good for Uber for fighting back. I wish more companies did.
Federal Express didn’t.
FedEx Ground classified drivers as independent contractors. Again, drivers were willing to drive, FedEx Ground was willing to pay, and customers got packages faster and more reliably than they did from the U.S. Postal Service.
But lawyers built a class action suit on behalf of FedEx drivers, saying they should be treated as employees, paying payroll tax, getting workman’s compensation, receiving benefits. FedEx settled the case for $228 million and began abandoning its independent contractor system.
Uber’s use of independent drivers—who use their own cars—is now called analogous to FedEx’s use of delivery drivers.
That means Uber may soon have to treat its drivers as employees. Business analysts at ZenPayroll estimate that the changes will cost $209 million. We customers will pay for that, and we’ll have fewer ride-share choices, too.
To continue reading: The Politicians’ War on Uber
